I have a hard time having productive days, especially if they’re a day off from work. It’s especially hard if I’m usually wiped after having a long day at my part time retail job and all I want to do is lay in bed and binge my favorite t.v. show until my legs stop aching after standing for six hours. But then I put off all of the things I wanted to do on my day off because I actually had time or wasn’t mentally exhausted from dealing with customers, things like dishes, laundry, and even personal hygiene. Then I have days where I am completely on the ball. I get everything done on my to do list and even finish extra things I didn’t even remember putting off. Why can’t every day be like this? Well I’m here to tell you that every day won’t be like that, and that’s okay.
In fact today was literally like this. I woke up at eleven and stared at my phone for an hour until it died and then got out of bed, brushed my teeth and hair. Microwaved some soup. Got back into bed. Watched YouTube videos and then remembered I needed to write this article. Oh yeah and I'm still in bed. I have a to do list for today. But will I do it? Who knows. It's my day off, so anything can happen.
It’s okay to have an off day or an off week, or even an off month. Stuff happens. Just know that you did have a good day and that it’s possible to have good days. I felt awful because I had a really good Wednesday where everything just seem to come together. Everything seemed easy. I got a lot done, I filed my taxes, I exercised, I did chores, I wrote a blog post- all things I couldn’t do on other days and it felt great. Then on a day I had the evening off, I felt very bad emotionally. I felt overwhelmed with what I needed to get done and didn’t complete most of the goals I had set for myself. It wasn’t a good day. I felt frustrated with myself because I had gotten stuff done before, why couldn’t I do it today? Why did I mess up so much today? Why couldn’t I have it together every day like everyone else? See, that’s the thing. Not everyone has it together every day, in fact most people don’t have it together everyday. It’s difficult. Adulting takes a huge toll on people because it’s hard work and it’s not fun work. It’s hard to take care of yourself while also dealing with everything your life throws at you whether it’s classes or work or both.
If you aren’t on the ball one hundred percent, it’s fine. Just keep on trying. If you mess up, understand that you are human and if the other person who might be affected by it doesn’t understand that, then that’s their problem. People do mess up. We’ve all been there.
And I may not have fantastic and productive days every single day. I might only have a productive day once a week, but that’s fine. I’m still figuring out what works for me.
If you find yourself having a rough day, just relax. Don’t stress yourself out more than you need to. Get through the negative emotions by doing breathing exercises or taking a bath if you can or talking it out with a friend. Take a break. Watch something funny. Drink water. Exercise. Eat a snack. And then once you’ve calmed down, think about what went wrong during your day. What kept you from being motivated. And if you’re not sure, write down your emotions. Maybe something in your day triggered a bad emotion. I know that for me, coming from a stressful day at work didn’t help. Either way, don’t be too hard on yourself. Once you’ve calmed down, pick yourself back up again and remember it’s important to never lose sight of your goals.